Reflect
by reno-xxxXXXxxx
Summary: When Reno and Elena carry on their work with The Turks, they find out that some people hold grudges for a long time. after Advent Children RenoxElena. First fanfic, please review!
1. Dark Memoirs

Chapter 1 – Dark memoirs

Reno yawned widely as he shuffled the papers on his desk unnecessarily. He smirked as he heard an impatient sigh coming from the doorway.

"Reno..? Could you hurry it up a bit please? I would like to get home sometime before Christmas."

He laughed quietly "What?" he said in mock surprise "You wouldn't want me to get all these muddled up now, would you?"

"Reno, they're not in order anyway, I've been watching you. You're purposely messing around because you know I can't go home until you finish." She said, stifling a yawn.

"Hey, you really think I don't wanna go home too, 'Lena?" he said, still grinning.

"You're not going home anyway, remember? You have to stay with me, coz it's safer after that thing with Cloud." She rolled her eyes at the thought

Two days ago, Reno had got himself into trouble, yet again, with Cloud. Well with Tifa, to be precise. Tifa had told him to forget it, but Cloud wasn't thinking the same thing. He swore to get revenge on the red-headed Turk. Perhaps calling his girlfriend a stupid sex-addicted whore, and asking how much a night she was wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. The trouble Reno and his mouth caused them all.

"Oh yeah. Stupid spikey-haired fuck. Why he was sticking up for that bitch he calls a girlfriend I don't know. Did anybody even hear what she called me first? She called me a red-headed, self-obsessed wan.."

"NO! No Reno, I heard what she said, I don't need to hear it again, thank you."

A dog howled somewhere over in the distance. Elena clutched tighter onto Reno's arm

"Oww…Elena, circulation." Reno said loudly

"What about it?"

"I'm losing it." She looked down at his arm where she had it in a white-knuckle death grip.

"Oh…sorry…" she said loosening her grip.

"Awww…whassup? Scared of the dark?" Reno said, teasingly

"NO! I'm not…I've just..seen a lot of thing that happen round here."

"Oh yeah?" his voice suddenly menacing and sour, "I've_ been_ in a lot of thing that happen around here."

Elena looked up, shocked by the sudden change in his tone of voice. The two deep-red tattoos on his cheek-bones contrasted brightly against his pale visage. He looked back down at her. The sourness seemed to melt away from his aqua-marine eyes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bite your head of. It's just…being here. It brings back memories, bad memories, from when I was a kid." He said softly

"It's ok… I shouldn't have started…"

There was a long silence. Elena looked back up at Reno; the smirk had come back to his face. He was so much better looking when he smiled, Elena thought. She slapped herself mentally. She didn't mean that. She wasn't attracted to Reno in any way. It was dark, and she was tired, her mind was getting carried away. Yes, that was it. But she could not deny that that the red-head was far from bad-looking.

"Don't worry 'Lena. You got me to protect ya if anything happens." Reno said, a grin still wide across his face

She laughed as she took out her keys and opened her door

"I don't know where you gonna sleep Reno, but I'm sure we'll find somewhere." She said absent-mindedly, not noticing the smirk on his face.

"Well you got a double bed, don't you?" he said, amused

Elena tried to hide her face when she found herself blushing. She never knew when to take him seriously.

"All right, all right 'Lena. Joking. I'll just sleep on the floor. That's where I usually end up by morning anyway."

They stepped into Elena's apartment, slightly squinting in the light.

"Don't know how you live like this 'Lena." Reno said, sounding slightly disgusted. Elena didn't even need to ask what he was talking about. It was the perfect tidiness of her apartment.

"Yeah, and it's gonna stay like that, even with you here, right?" she said, amused.

"You wanna bet?" he said, flinging himself on to her couch.

Elena walked into the kitchen to get herself a well-earned coffee.

"You want anything Reno?" she shouted back into the living room.

"Yeah, anything. I'm dying of dehydration and starvation in here."

She chucked him a bag of chips and a can of soda, and sat down with her coffee. Reno looked at her.

"Well, I figured you wouldn't want anything healthy." She said, smiling.

Reno smirked. "You know me too well." He said, cracking open the soda.


	2. It begins

Elena blinked as her eyes started stinging from staring at the T.V. She couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Then she realised, it was too quiet. Reno had shut up, even stopped his rude comments about Cloud and Tifa, at least an hour ago. She looked over at him. Although he appeared asleep, his eyes were half open. He didn't look right in her opinion. She shook him to try and wake him. No response.

"Reno?" she said, starting to worry. She heard a small grunt. Satisfied that he was at least still alive, she settled herself back down on the sofa.

Elena wasn't sure what had woken her up, but looking at the clock, she had been asleep for about 2 hours. She looked over at Reno and frowned. She got up and let her head clear, then went to turn on the light. The sudden brightness made her eyes hurt. She looked back at Reno. He was in the same position as he was 2 hours ago, eyes still half open. Now, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead and his breathing was heavy and uneven.

"Reno? You better be playing around. It's not funny. . . .Reno?" Her voice seemed to shake. She nudged him in the ribs, which she knew particularly hurt him. If anything would wake him up, that would. Still, nothing. She looked around, wondering what to do. Reno's cell phone caught her eye. Tseng…it was only 11pm, he would still be awake. She grabbed it and dialled Tseng's number.

"Hello?" a tired and slightly annoyed voice said

"Oh, sorry. Were you asleep?"

He seemed shocked to hear Elena.

"Elena? What is it? I know you wouldn't ring for no reason."

"Well, I'm ringing about Reno actually…" she started

"Oh…Elena? Whatever he's done, including destroying half your house, or whatever. I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow."

"No, no. It's not that…"

"Elena, are you ok? You sound a bit shaky." He started to sound concerned.

"I…I think you should come round here..."

"Why? What's happened??" He sounded panicked

"It's Reno…he just…just come ok? She didn't feel like explaining Reno's condition to him over the phone.

"Ok. I'll come right over," then his voice sounded serious again, "but if I don't need to be there, you and Reno will both regret it."

Elena put the phone down. And looked across at Reno, a lump rising in her throat. His eyes were now fully closed, and he didn't appear to be breathing. She ran across to him, and sighed with relief as she saw his chest rising up and down. Each breath seemed to pain him somehow as he shuddered slightly with each breath. She put her fingers to his neck to feel a sluggish, just there, pulse. She didn't understand. What had happened? He had been fine and laughing with her just a few hours before. She found her eyes filling with tears. When had she suddenly started to care so much for Reno? Could it be that the feelings she had felt for him earlier were real? Not her mind playing tricks on her…. She had never felt anything like this for anybody before… it was confusing her. She looked up at his unconscious figure to find her heart left in the same way it had earlier. She put her hand on his warm forehead. She couldn't stop herself from moving her hand down his thin cheekbone, her finger tracing the outline of his tattoo. A sharp knock at the door brought her back to her senses.

"Come in!" she shouted, aware of the sadness that was still in her voice.

Tseng strode into the room, "What's going on?" he said urgently. Elena just stepped back from Reno, Tseng's face dropped as soon as he saw him.

"I was expecting this…" he said quietly

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Elena said, her voice still shaking slightly.

"Elena? Have you been crying?" he said, sounding somewhat puzzled, "I never knew you cared."

"I…I…can't this wait till later?" she tried to steady her voice. "Tell me…why were you expecting this?"

Tseng looked down, as though disappointed with himself.

"You remember that day, about 2 years ago, when Reno came into work and you asked him why he hadn't been there the day before?"

Elena puzzled this over for a minute and remembered. "Yeah…he just kept saying he didn't know, I thought he was messing around."

"Well…he has reason not to remember. I fear that once I tell you this you will lose all respect for me." He looked up at Elena, sorrow in his eyes.

"Is it that bad?" she said, her voice shaking again.

"I'm afraid so. At that time, Hojo needed a guinea pig to experiment on. He had just developed a new virus that was supposed to cure the Geo-Stigma that everyone had. You remember, yes?"

Elena nodded. She knew what was coming.

"He had convinced me that there were no possible side effects, and I wanted to cure Rufus Shinra of his Geo-Stigma…so, one day when Reno was in a particularly irritating mood, I sent him off to work for Hojo. I have to say I felt worried when he didn't come back the next day…" his voice trailed off

Tears filled Elena's eyes again, "And, he doesn't know this?" she already knew the answer.

"No, Reno came back, although looking very pale, he was fine. There didn't seem any need to tell him."

"I don't believe it. I really…so… how do you know that this is the reason that he's like this?" she pointed to Reno

"Because, Hojo developed that virus further, it didn't cure any Geo-Stigma, so he developed it into a real virus – deadly. . . No" he saw the look on Elena's face, "Reno's is not necessarily deadly.."

"Not…necessarily.?" Elena said in a small voice

"Well that's the problem. We don't know exactly what the fatality figures are,

but… well, put it this way. Things aren't looking to good for Reno."

He finished there. Elena looked up at him, expecting more. But he stayed silent.

"Tseng?" she said after a long awkward silence. "I still have respect for you. I just thought you would have handled that a little more…professionally. I mean...offering one of your employees as a guinea pig to a madman like Hojo? You really think that was one of your better ideas?"

"I know. It was stupid. I shouldn't have done it. I mean, just look at the state Reno's in now. But you must understand, sometime Reno gets so annoying, you will do anything to get rid of him… and that's the first thing that came to mind."

"Do you plan on… telling Reno this?" Elena asked

"Well… it's the last thing I wanted to do… but I supposed I'll have to, won't I?

She nodded and looked back across at Reno. He seemed to have moved slightly but his breathing was heavier. She saw his eyelids flicker and rushed over to him.

"Reno?" she said quietly, "Are you awake?"

A small grunt was his response. He seemed to be conscious though. And his eyes were partly open.

"Elena? This is no good. We both need sleep, and we will still have to work tomorrow. Rufus Shinra will never let us have any time off for something like this."

"But… What about Reno? He's gonna have to stay here on his own?"

"He'll be fine. There's not much we can do for him now anyway. I'll head back

now. You need to get some sleep. 'Night, Elena."

He headed out of the door, leaving Elena alone with Reno. She heard a small noise from Reno and lent down to hear what he was saying.

"Reno? What is it?" She said kindly.

"'Lena? It….h-hurts." His voice was barely recognisable.

"Where?"

"E-everywhere…" his face slackened. He had passed out. Elena felt tears fill her eyes again, "Reno…."

Elena snapped her eyes open. She wasn't supposed to have fallen asleep, although looking at it realistically, she wouldn't have been able to make it through the night just sitting there watching Reno. She sat up only to find she had cramp in her neck, she stretched it out, ignoring the painful cracks, and looked over to Reno. He was either sound asleep or, more likely, still unconscious. He looked so lifeless. Tearing her eyes away from Reno she looked at the clock, 7:30 am. She had to report to Tseng at 8:00 am. She dragged herself away from the sofa and shuffled into her room to get changed. She still wasn't happy about leaving Reno on his own all day, but Tseng's orders were orders. And he was right. She was worrying to much. She caught sight of herself in the mirror while running a brush through her hair. She knew she looked terrible, she was over-tired and needed a shower, but she was in a rush. With one last glance at Reno, she headed out of the door.

The sharp February wind refreshed Elena slightly as he picked up her slow pace as not to be late. Her thoughts kept wondering back to Reno. She nearly walked straight past the door to the Turks headquarters. Gathering her mind she pushed open the door.

"Hey Elena… Woah… I take it you didn't sleep well last night?" came Tseng's greeting.

"Do I look that bad?" she asked grimly

"Afraid so. Can I have a word with you in the other room?"

This was unexpected, but she nodded and followed him into the next room.

"Listen…about Reno….don't mention anything to Rude. I don't want that kind of atmosphere in here today, you know what Rude gets like when Reno is hurt." He said quietly

"Well…what am I supposed to say? He's gonna ask where he is."

"Just say he has a hangover or something, and I'll pretend to be mad at him. Use your imagination."

He walked out to join Rude leaving Elena deep in thought again. She wondered slowly back to join her fellow Turks. She found her eyes stinging with tears again. She was tired, that was the problem. Her exhaustion seemed to magnify every problem and worry she had by 100. She took a deep breath and stepped in to the room.

"Right Elena, we don't have much real work today as far as I know, so we're just gonna make a start on all the paperwork Reno caused up to get on the last mission." Some how he had managed to set fire to 2 houses, break several windows, and injured someone's cat after he kicked it. Elena had to admit though, the cat probably did more damage to Reno than he did to it. The gash up his leg where the cat hung on to him took 3 hours to stop bleeding and had only just started to heal up.

"OK." She said and took the wad of papers that Tseng handed her.

"Where is Reno today?" came Rude's voice. Elena winced. The dreaded question.

"He's … not feeling his best."

"Which means?" Tseng said. Elena was surprised to hear him ask, but then she remembered, he had to play along too. "What has he been doing last night?"

"He…I don't know, I didn't go with him." She said in what she hoped was a snappy voice.

"Hangover then?" he asked raising an eyebrow

"Well…yes. I think so." She said with pretend defeat

"He's gonna get it when he comes back to work. How many times has this happened now?" he said

"I would be more worried about Reno, if I were you." Came Rude's husky voice.

Elena and Tseng looked at him in surprise.


	3. Double Suspicions

Chapter 3 – Double suspicions

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena said urgently.

"You soon perked up at that. Nobody else knows this, not even Reno. I'm the only on that saw it. When me and Reno were drinking, the day after that trouble with Cloud and Tifa, he decided it would be funny to go to the Seventh Heaven. And of course Cloud and Tifa were there. Basically to cut a long story short, Reno's drink got spiked."

"What?" Tseng said loudly, "It was Cloud wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Reno went to talk to somebody and Cloud walked past and dropped something in his drink. I should have said something I know, but by the time I thought about it he had drunk it."

"So what was it?" Elena asked

"Not a clue"

"Does Cloud know that you saw him?" Tseng inquired

"I don't think so. So…are you gonna tell what is really wrong with Reno?"

"So, Tseng? What you said…it might not be that?" Elena said, hopefully

"It seems that poor Reno has more than one poison in his blood right now. I think as we have nothing to do, and nobody else is actually here, we should head back to yours, Elena." Tseng sounded final at that.

Both Elena and Rude nodded in agreement and headed out of the door. Tseng followed locking up behind them.

"What if anybody finds out we're leaving?" Elena said worriedly

"We have our reasons." Tseng replied bluntly.

"How low can you get?" Elena said quietly. "Tifa was fine about it, but why did Cloud have to take it so far?"

"I really don't know Elena. I guess he can be as immature as Reno." Tseng replied

"That's not immature, he's just a scum-sucking, spineless coward." Her voice was raised. She took out her key and unlocked the door. They heard no sound from within.

"Just how I left him…" Elena muttered.

"Re…no?" Rude said, quite stunned. Elena was shocked at his concern. Reno had got hurt plenty of times before. But then she remembered that he and Reno had been partners since…well forever. And he was in a pretty bad state. His flaming red hair was even more matted than usual, his delicate skin was chalk white and beads of sweat were forming across his forehead and cheeks, despite the freezing February morning.

"Don't worry Rude. He'll get better. Promise." Elena looked at him with what she hoped was a confident face. They were distracted by a knock at the door.

"Who the…? I'll get it." Elena strode off into the hallway the door. She pulled it open, still wondering who the hell would knock at her door. She stopped dead when she saw the long dark brown hair and dark wine coloured eyes staring at her, filled with pity.

Tifa Lockheart. Of all people.

"Yes?" Elena said politely but slightly coldy. Tifa's face dropped at this icy welcome.

"I'm sorry…I just wanted to talk with you about something."

"If you mean what your boyfriend did, we know. And I really wouldn't expect you to care, even if you did see the state that Reno's in right know." Elena snapped. Tifa seemed confused.

"What? What has he done? I only wanted to apologize about what happened the other day, with Cloud hitting Reno. He didn't deserve it, but surely it didn't hurt him that much?"

"What? No. I…I think you'd better come in." Elena held the door open for Tifa.

"Thank you." She said politely, stepping in out of the cold.

Elena followed her in and saw the shocked look on Rude's and Tseng's face.

"Ummm…Hi." Tifa said awkwardly. She hadn't caught sight of Reno yet.

"Listen guys. Tifa doesn't know what Cloud did. She came to apologize for Cloud hitting Reno. I think we had better tell her." Elena said, slightly sadly.

"Well, Rude told us that Cloud spiked Reno's drink while they were drinking at the Seventh Heaven, yesterday."

"Oh god… I honestly didn't know that. Cloud… why does he always take things too far? I'm so sorry, honestly." They could all hear the sincerity in her voice. Elena looked up and saw tears in her eyes. This wasn't fake. She pointed at where Reno was laid on her couch, still unconscious.

"Oh holy… what the hell did he put in the drink?" She said, horror etched on her features at the sight of him.

"We have no idea." Said Tseng.

They sat in silence for several minutes, until Elena broke it.

"Umm…is it a stupid question if I ask why Reno has blood on his shirt?"

"What? Oh yeah…" Tseng replied.

Elena stood up and started to unbutton Reno's shirt to find the source of the blood. She slapped herself mentally, her hands were tingling as they brushed against his bare skin. But she couldn't stop her heart jumping. This wasn't her imagination, she really was starting to get feelings for him. But telling him that, he would laugh in her face, probably tell her everyone did, or some other sarcastic remark. She was brought back down to reality when she saw through his stomach, a blatant shot wound. All the blood, including on his shirt, was dry, which meant he must have had the wound for some time. She thought back to yesterday, the last time he had been out of sight of all of them was yesterday lunch. Which meant he had that wound for the rest of yesterday, all the time he was joking around with her last night, he never told her he had a bullet buried deep in his stomach.

"Shit. Why does he always keep stuff like this from us? What was he planning on doing, leaving it like that?" came Tseng's voice.

"I thought he looked a bit pale when he came back from lunch yesterday." Said Rude.

"Has he always been that skinny?" Tifa said eying his open shirt where his ribs stuck out obviously. "It can't be healthy."

"God knows what goes on with him. He seems to never stop eating and yet he looks thinner every time I see him." Said Elena.

They heard movement from Reno's direction, and Elena rushed over to him. He groaned and his eyes flickered open.

"Reno?" she said hopefully. She heard him say something but it was too quiet to hear. She leant closer to hear him.

"You couldn't have waited until I was at least conscious could you?" Reno said. His voice was weak but there was a slight smirk on his face. He was looking at his unbuttoned shirt. Elena's eyes filled with tears again, only this time it was happiness.

"God, you're not that sad I'm recovering are you?" Reno said in a mocking voice. Elena laughed and hugged Reno tightly. "Reno…"


	4. Recovery

Chapter 4 – Recovery

"God Reno, only a day ago I thought you were gonna die, and you're pissing me off already." Elena said, trying to be angry, but there was a smile on her face.

"Sorry, I'm only hungry, and considering I can't actually stand up yet, I think I'm gonna struggle a bit to get something myself." Reno said, his trademark smirk on his face.

"Yeah? And what if I decide not to get you anything? What makes you think I wouldn't just let you starve?" Elena replied, still smiling.

"You wouldn't…You know why? Because you love me. You can't deny it." Elena knew Reno was only joking, but her heart leapt at this comment. If only he knew the truth…

"What do you want then?" She asked

"Pizza." He said bluntly

"I don't have any pizza." Elena knew what was coming next

"Yeah you do I can see it from here."

"Reno…that's been there for… I don't even know how long." She said looking at it.

"So? Pass it here."

She passed him the box, disgusted. "You wanna make yourself ill again?" she said, cringing as he picked the bit of mould off the slice of pizza he was about to eat.

"And for breakfast too." She shook off the nausea that had just come over her. "Well gotta go Reno. You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah sure." He said, still munching away.

Elena shook her head and headed outside. The happiness that was in her heart was matched only with the weather. Although it was only February, and the wind was sharp and cold, the sun was shining brightly. Elena smiled as she pulled her scarf up round her face to shield her from the wind. She pushed open the door to the Turks headquarters, thankful she only lived a few blocks away.

The sight that met her eyes was the last she expected. Rude and Tseng were standing by the door, and across the room sitting on the sofa that Reno usually took his afternoon naps on, Tifa. She hadn't seen her since the night that Reno had first regained consciousness.

"Hey." She said. "I just came to see how Reno was." Elena tried to be angry. She didn't have a right to care, or pretend. But looking into Tifa's red-brown eyes, she could see the sincerity, the worry. Elena smiled. And it was for real.

"He's improving quite a bit actually. He can't walk yet though, I think he will be able to soon. I left him eating mouldy pizza … don't ask" she added seeing the look on Tifa's face.

"He's gonna end up getting ill again." Said Tseng, amused.

"That's what I said." Elena laughed.

"Umm… I was wondering. Would you guys consider coming to lunch with me later? I understand if you say no. I mean, I'm exactly the first person you would think of when someone says friend." She looked down, obviously expecting them to say no.

"Tifa?" Elena said, putting her hands on Tifa's shoulders, "I already consider you as a friend." They both smiled.

"Is that a yes then?" she asked

"Of course. You should be glad Reno's still ill. You wouldn't want him to come with us." Tseng said.

"Why not?" Tifa asked

"He'd probably end up running your tab up by about 100 gil, and that's just for the food he'd get."

Tifa laughed. Elena didn't hear any of this. She was too busy thinking. About everything. Her life had changed so much in only 2 days. Depression, sadness and a hopeless love were all she could think about yesterday, but now, things had taken a turn for the better. She had made new friends, and now they were all laughing together. She felt elation in her heart that she hadn't felt for a long time. But there was still something there. At the back of her mind, but it was there. Cloud. The memories of him were haunting her. He had tried to kill Reno, and what was stopping him form doing it again?

"Elena? You okay?" Tifa asked

"Yeah. Shall we head out?" Elena smiled

"Good idea. I still haven't worked out where we're going so it could be a while before we actually get any lunch." Tifa laughed.


	5. Friends

Chapter 5 – Friends

Elena had to admit, she felt a sort of friendship between her, her fellow Turks and Tifa that she had never felt before. Yet it still felt strange without Reno. No argument, sarcastic comments, it just wasn't right. But at least he was getting better, she told herself. It wouldn't be long before he was back among them.

"Elena, are you okay? You have been so quiet." Tifa asked as they stepped back into the Turks headquarters. It was strangely dark.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just thinking." Elena replied

"Fuck, 'Lena, does it hurt?" came a voice from the corner.

Elena screamed, she wasn't actually scared, it just shocked her. Tseng turned on the light. Sitting on the couch, was none other than Reno.

"Reno, how the fuck did you get over here?" Elena shouted

"With a great deal of difficulty, actually." He said. His face had paled again, sweat was on his forehead and he was panting slightly.

"Reno…" Elena said, in a slightly whiney voice. "You weren't suppose to leave there. You are still ill, and there's that shot wound in your stomach.

"Ahh it's not bad, I'm nearly perfect now." He poked himself hard in the stomach where his injury was.

"Oh shit!" He shouted. Tifa and Elena both giggled slightly. Reno pulled open his shirt to check the damage. Elena felt that now familiar pull on her heartstrings. He was bleeding again, and Elena noticed for the first time how thin he really was. His ribs were clearly visible, every single one. She put a hand on his shallow stomach.

"You need a decent meal in you." She said, smiling kindly.

That night was one of the best Elena had ever had. Nothing happened. They talked. And for probably the first time in his life, Reno was actually serious. Eventually.

"I hope you weren't too worried about me?" Reno said, a smile still on his face.

"Actually, seeing you in that state, it was the most scared I have ever been I my life." Reno looked at her as though expecting her to crack into laughter, but her face remained straight and serious.

"You' re not joking, huh?" he asked, the smirk disappearing.

"No I'm not. Reno…I was so worried. And in that worry, I finally realised how much you really mean to me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Reno. It always seems like we hate each other. And I thought we did. But when I thought you were going to d-die…I realised that I really do care about you. And I hope you feel the same way."

"Course I care about you 'Laney. I might even consider admitting I know you when we're out anywhere." The grin once again came to his face. She knew his moments of serious could never last long. She looked at him. He still wasn't right. Still very pale, and just sickly looking. But she had to admit, the decent meal he had just had, it had put a bit of life back into him. She was hoping her feeling for him would fade as he got better, but they just intensified. She would have to tell him one day. She was distracted when Reno's cell phone began to ring.

"Oh fuck sake." He picked it up, "What? What the fuck do you want?...I am calm thank you very much. You want me to do what? When?" There was a long pause, "I've only just learned to fucking walk again! …. No, fuck you Tseng. Oh what? Oh right… umm…yeah, on time, perfect…you're a bastard, you know that?" He put his phone down.

"What was that about?" Elena asked laughing at the look on Reno's face.

"Oh fuck knows. Did you know that Tseng and Rufus Shinra sound exactly the same on the phone?" He said frowning

"Do they? Oh no…please don't tell me you said all that to…"

"Rufus, yeah."

"Oh shit!" she laughed, "And the reason you added 'you're a bastard' to the end?"

"Oh don't worry, he handed the phone to Tseng when I said that." He sighed, "Why does that always happen to me?"

"Ha ha I don't know. So what did he want?"

"Me, you and Rude have gotta be 'bodyguards' for Rufus. He's going to Wutai for some reason that I wasn't listening to."

Elena giggled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Well, anyway. We gotta do this tomorrow."

"What? No that's not possible for you. You'll be killed." Elena heart seemed to leap to her throat."

"Yeah well he seems to think his life is more important than mine obviously." Reno said darkly.

"No." she suddenly smiled, "You and Rude can be his bodyguards," Reno looked at her, confused. "I'll be yours." She hugged him tightly. "I promise I will not let anything happen to you. Never, I promise."


	6. The Bodyguards

Chapter 6 – The Bodyguards

"This is fucking stupid." Reno said angrily, as they sat waiting for Rufus. Elena had to admit, she really couldn't see how Reno was going to get through this. He had struggled just to get to work this morning. But she had made a promise. She would protect Reno. She had to be strong. "What the fuck's gonna happen anyway? He never needed a bodyguard before. He picks the ideal times…"

"I hope that's not complaining I hear Reno, because after the way you spoke to me yesterday, I would be on your best behaviour if I were you." Rufus walked in the room.

"Whatever."

"Umm…sir? I'm not sure it's a good idea to send Reno on this mission. You didn't see the state he was in."

"He'll be fine." Rufus said, and he headed out of the door. The rest of them followed.

They were to get to Wutai by helicopter, controlled by some other guy none of them had ever seen before. Reno winced as Elena helped him to get in. This was going to be a long mission, Elena thought.

"Reno? Don't sit like that, you'll end up hurting yourself." Elena said casually. Reno's long legs were in an uncomfortably small space and he was crushed up against the wall of the helicopter.

"Well I don't have much of a choice. One, this fucking helicopter is too small. And two…" he winced slightly as he tried to move, "I can't move anyway."

Elena sighed and moved forwards to help him out. She put her hand around his skinny waist and edged him slowly to the side until he could free his legs. He stretched them out with a relived sigh, and smiled at her. Not a smirk, a smile.

"Thanks." He said. Elena smiled back, ignoring the jump in her heart, it happened too often now.

Reno gasped a little at the shock that jolted his body as he jumped from the helicopter.

"You okay?" Elena asked, concerned.

"Yeah…" he gasped painfully.

They tagged along behind Rufus, Tseng and Rude. Reno was limping slightly, all Elena thought was negative. What was going to happen to Reno?

They stopped outside a large building. It was completely plain, no writing, nothing.

"Okay," Rufus said to them. "I want you all to wait outside. There is no risk once I'm inside, unless anybody else gets in. That's your job." He nodded his head at them,

"You let nobody in, no matter who they claim to be. I don't know how long this will take. You will wait until I come out, no matter what."

They all nodded their heads in agreement. As soon as Rufus walked inside, Reno slumped himself down on the floor, a grimace on his face.

"Reno? Are you alright?" Elena said, kneeling down to his level. His breathing was heavy. He didn't reply, he leaned his head against the brick wall.

"Reno?" she was worried now.

"I'm not sure I can do this 'Lena." He said. Suddenly he got up. "I'm fine." He said, trying to change the tone of his voice.

Elena, Tseng and Rude stared at him.

Two hours later, and nothing. No Rufus, no intruders. Reno had sat down in his spot against the wall again. Elena had sat next to him, her head on his shoulder out of boredom. Tseng was perched on top of some trash cans. Only Rude remained standing tall, as always. They were all brought out of there trances by the sound of laughter. Evil and mocking, similar to the one they often heard from Reno. A figure came round the corner, Reno and Elena both shot to their feet, Tseng stood up slowly. The figure stopped next to them. What surprise them most was that, it was a woman. She was tall and thin with long black hair. She was dressed completely in black.

"Hi." She said, putting on false airs. "Just going in for an interview."

"Wanna bet?" Reno sneered, blocking her with his arm. She turned to face him. She was not quite as tall as him, but her gaze was menacing. Reno was trained not to be intimidated, especially by a woman. He looked in her eyes, they looked strange. Mako. Shit, Reno thought to himself.

"I suggest you let me past." She said calmly.

"I suggest you let go of my wrist and get the fuck outta here." Reno retorted

"You'll regret that, red-head." She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? What you gonna do about it?" he said coolly.

She tightened her grip on his wrist, it was very uncomfortable. Reno gathered what was left of his strength and twisted his arm round, grabbing hold of her other arm and tried to pull it round to break it, but before he could she kneed him, hard, in the stomach. He fell to his knees, winded.

"Hmph. I don't have time for this. I pay people to do this kind of thing." She said, rather snobbishly. Reno looked behind her, where a gang of no less than 5 people were coming at them. They were all dressed in black, but they had hoods over their heads so it was hard to recognise what any of them really looked like. None them wasted any time, and launched themselves straight into battle. Reno quickly pulled his EMR out just as one of the gang headed towards him, sword drawn. There was something very familiar about this whole situation. He charged forwards with his EMR ready to strike his opponent. His attack was blocked. Reno decided to take a leaf out of this woman's book and kicked as hard as he could in the mystery man's stomach. He gasped slightly, but he wasn't giving up. He looked up at Reno, the he realised with a shock, he recognised that blond hair, blue eyes anywhere. He was so distracted by this realisation he never noticed the syringe in the man's hand.

Elena gasped for breath. She was being choked by this woman in black. Completely different from the first woman, she was short, stocky with mud-green eyes and blond hair. She nearly laughed at her stupidity. She had a gun in her pocket. She pulled in out and in one shot the woman was dead. That was the last of them. Four people, dead. She was sure she counted five. She heard a laugh behind her and turned around to meet a blue-eyed stranger. She felt an impact on her head and her world turned black.


	7. Gone

Chapter 7 – Gone

"_I cried out with no reply and  
I can't feel you by my side  
So I'll hold tight to what I know  
You're here and I'm never alone_."

"Elena? Elena, wake up." She heard a voice saying. Elena opened her eyes and sat up. She had a slight headache from where the man had hit her, but other than that she was fine. She looked around and saw Tseng and Rude sat next to her, they were on the helicopter.

"The man who knocked you out escaped." Tseng said, some-what grimly, "we don't know who any of them were. Rufus got out fine. None of them managed to get inside."

Elena nodded.

"Umm… where's Reno?" she asked.

There was a long pause. Elena's heart sank. He was dead, wasn't he? Just hurry up and tell me he's dead.

"We don't know. We couldn't find him after the battle. He seemed to disappear along with that last gang member."

Elena didn't know whether this news was better or worse than hearing he was dead.

Worse probably, now she didn't know if he was alive or dead, and what kind of danger he was in if he was alive. She felt the tears fill her eyes again.

Two months had gone by since Reno had gone missing. Elena was struggling just to make it through each day. She found herself crying quite a lot of the time. Tseng and Rude showed their sorrow through staying silent. They both blamed Rufus Shinra for Reno's fate. Elena didn't, she blamed herself.

"No…You and Rude can be his bodyguards," she remembered the confused look in his eyes, how it had made her laugh. "I'll be yours. I promise I will not let anything happen to you. Never, I promise"

Memories of what she said had haunted her since it happened. She had promised to protect him. She had let him down. And now, thanks to her, nobody even knew if he was alive or dead.

"I'll never let anything happen to you." The words swirled around in her head like a whirlpool. If only there was some way to drive these painful memories out of her head. To end her pain, forever. She was at her lowest point, and for the first time in her life, she wished she didn't care for Reno at all.

"Elena?" Elena looked up from where she was sitting on her sofa. Tseng came into her sitting room. She sniffed and tried to smile, tried to hide her broken heart. Tseng came and sat next to her, his hand on her shoulder. She couldn't help but break down in tears again.

"Elena? I know…this is hard. You will pull through. It's not your fault, you know. You told Rufus he shouldn't have made Reno do that mission. He was in no fit state to do so." Tseng looked her in the eyes. She tried to stop herself from crying just so she could tell Tseng her false promises to Reno.

"Y-you don't u-understand." She sniffed, he nodded as though telling her to go on, "I promised him, I s-said I would l-let anything h-happen to h-him."

"Elena, it's not your fault. When Reno went missing, you were lying on the floor, unconscious. What were you supposed to do about it?" He tried to comfort her.

"It doesn't matter. D-don't you understand? I b-broke a promise. I lied to him."

"I understand. But dwelling in the past is no way to make up for it, is it?" Tseng patted her shoulder.

"I feel like I need to do something, in his memory." She pulled herself together slightly at the thought of someone finally understanding her.

"Well do it then. Whatever you want." Tseng smiled at her.

The sun was setting over the first truly glorious day of the year. One lone woman was standing on the edge of the beach, a bunch of 4 red roses in her hand. Her hair whipped around her face in the cool, but slightly forceful wind. She was dressed in black; her hair was shoulder length and cool blonde, except for one streak, which was bright red. She was standing in front of a large stone, which was carved with a single word, "Reno." She lay the red roses down in front of the stone. One from her, one from Rude, one from Tseng, and one from Tifa. All red.

"You always loved the sea Reno." She said quietly, "And I'll always love you."


	8. Changes

Chapter 8 – Changes

Two years on, Elena had finally started to get her life back on track. She hadn't forgotten Reno. She never would. She went down to the beach everyday, without exception. She never left without there being four red roses on sand. She felt better, knowing she was paying respect to him. She still believed it was her fault. But she didn't let it get to her anymore. People would say she had changed a lot in the past two years. Her hair was still the same, it was still the bright, beautiful blond it had always been. Except the red streak. She had reasons for having it, probably no one else understood. She had always admired Reno's red hair, and now she felt she always had a sort of memoir of him, always. She would always love him. Through losing Reno, she had gotten stronger. She didn't complain as much, and always tried her best in every mission. Yet there was still and ache in the bottom of her heart, knowing that Reno was never going to fight beside her again. But she never let any one else see it.

She turned through the paperwork she was filling in to the last page. She heart jumped as she saw Reno's name written right at the top of the page. The form was entitled "Missing Or Deceased". Elena felt tears stinging her eyes for the first time in a long time. She read down the form. Has this been done on purpose? Her having to sort this out. She couldn't do it. She put the form down and wiped her eyes just as Tseng and Rude walked in the room.

"Elena? You ok?" Tseng asked. Elena shook her head and handed over the form. Tseng read through it, his eyes widening.

"Who put that in your pile? Elena, I'm sorry. I'll deal with this." Tseng took the form back into his office as Rude sat down next to Elena.

"You okay?" Rude's husky voice said.

"Yeah." She said, sniffing. She had to be strong.

"Elena?" Tseng shouted, "You can go home now if you want."

Elena looked at her watch, it was 4:30 pm. They shouldn't be leaving for at least another hour. She knew why he had said it. He couldn't stand to see anyone else upset. She had learnt that from the past two years, when she had been trying to get over Reno.

Elena wasn't going to complain though. She grabbed her jacket and walked out of the building without looking back. She couldn't place the feeling she had inside her. She felt as though her heart was broken in two, but she couldn't cry anymore. It was like had no more tears left. She opened her front door and stepped into the black room. As much as she would have liked to leave the light off and sit in the dark, she switched it on anyway. Her apartment was just how she had left it. Except one thing, she noticed as she sat down on the couch, an envelope on the coffee table. She picked it up and turned it over. "'Lena" was written on the front, in small writing. Her heart leapt. There was only one person who called her that. She opened up the envelope, her hands shaking. Inside was a photograph of her and Reno. She remembered it being taken, it was 2 years ago, just before Reno's last mission. His skin was still deathly pale from the illness he had, but he was smiling, and he had his arm around her. She turned it over. "'Lena, I hope for everyone's sake that this mission I'm about to do goes well. Love Reno." That was all that was written on it. She held it to her heart. He must have left it before they set off to work that fateful morning. But…she thought back. She couldn't remember it being there before. She was brought out of her thoughtful state by a sharp knock at the door.

She didn't know why but something told her to hide the picture. She slid it under her couch. Opening the door, she came face to face with Tseng.

"You okay, Elena?" he asked.

"Yeah, come in." she let him past her and shut the door.

"So, did you want anything in particular?" she asked

"Yes, actually." His tone was very grim. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. "Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"

"Yes. Two years…" she looked down.

"Exactly. I was hoping to hold a memorial for Reno. I was hoping even more that you will come. You don't have to if it will be too hard…"

"No." she said sharply, "I will come."

"Good. Now I have to ask you something else. Would be able to sort of…you know. Say a few words. I think it got to the point where you knew Reno better than any of us."

She thought about it for a minute. Would she be able to do it without crying? No, probably now, was the answer she found. But why did it matter? She was tired of hiding her feelings. She would show everyone how she really felt.

"Yes…I'll do it." She tried to smile at him


	9. Remembrance

Chapter 9 – Remembrance

"_I have wasted so much time_

_Pushing you away from me,_

_I just never saw how you_

_Could cherish me."_

Elena ran the brush through her hair and tied it up in a high ponytail, leaving the red streak at the front loose. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing the same black dress as she did when she first went to the beach with the roses. Her eyes were outlined with black. She smiled and turned to leave. Her eye was caught by the photo on the coffee table. Reno…it felt like she was finally letting him go, letting him rest in peace.

Tseng had let her pick the place where they held the memorial. Naturally she had chosen the beach. As she approached the flowing white sands, her memory flooded back to about 3 years ago when her and her fellow Turks had come to this beach. Tseng had been in one of his rare, rebellious moods and decided they all needed a break for a couple of hours. She remembered how they laughed at Reno because he was so amazed by the whole thing. It turned out he had never been to a beach before. Elena brought him back there while the sun was setting. She would pay any amount of money to see the look on his face again. She would pay even more just to see Reno again.

She walked over the sand to the place where she had been leaving the red roses. Tseng, Rude and Tifa were already there.

"You still sure you wanna do this? It's not too late to back out." Tseng said, smiling kindly.

"I'm sure. I can do this. Who's coming?" she asked

"Rufus Shinra, a load of other people from Shinra, and Tifa of course. Only people who actually knew Reno though." He said.

She nodded. Looking around her she could see a lot of people had turned up.

"I think that's everybody. Go ahead." Tseng said. Elena cleared her throat.

"I think all of you know Reno, and I think most of you know what happened two years ago." She felt the tears sting her eyes as she thought about what she was going to say. "Just before that fateful mission, Reno was ill. During that illness, I discovered how much I really cared for him. When he went missing, it was the most heartbreaking thing that I have ever had to go through. It doesn't matter how much any of you care for Reno. Some of you may feel the same as me, some of you ay be glad that he's gone. It doesn't matter. We are all here for the same reason. To say good-bye for the last time."

Elena looked up. Tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't care. She looked at the people around her. Most of them were standing with their heads down, some were crying. But one person particularly caught Elena's eye. She had no idea who it was, but he did see some-what familiar. He was standing at the back of the crowd so she couldn't see much of him. He was tall and thin and dressed in black like everyone else, but he was holding himself in a way that an injured man would. He was wearing a hat that was tipped forwards so she couldn't quite see his face. He looked up at stared straight into Elena's eyes, though she still couldn't quite see his face. Seeing that he had caught her attention, he pulled his hair out of his jacket and pulled the hat off, a smirk on his face.

"Tseng? Please tell me I'm not seeing things." Elena said. Her voice was shaking. Tseng looked over to where the man was standing.

"What the…?"


	10. Reflect

Chapter 10 – Reflect

Elena's brain was not playing tricks on her. It was him. That red hair and trade-mark smirk only belonged to one person. Reno.

"Reno..?" she said, not quite believing what she was seeing.

"Hey, you don't miss me that much do you 'Lena?" she was still smirking. She could see a cut on his lip. Where had he been? She wasted no time. She was crying,

this time from happiness. He ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

"Easy, 'Lena. I haven't been treated the best of ways these past two years." He cringed. Elena shocked even herself and leant forwards kissing Reno lightly on the lips. She expected him to pull back, but he didn't. He kissed her back, passionately, but gently. They both gently pulled back, Reno looked at her. He wiped the tears from her face.

"Reno?" she said, still not quite believing it

"Last time I checked." He smiled. It was a strained smile, she thought looking at him. He looked exhausted, and as well as the cut lip, he had a slightly black eye and a cut on his forehead. He shifted slightly, and before Elena knew it, she was supporting his entire weight, which for some one so skinny, was pretty heavy. Tseng rushed over to help her. He laid him down on the sand, to see the damage. Elena remembered the shot wound he had 2 years ago and saw the scar. Right next to it was another bullet wound; it was fresh because it was still bleeding. He also had what looked like knife marks across his stomach.

"What the fuck has he been getting himself into now?" said Tseng, slightly amused. Elena put her hand on his forehead; he moved slightly and opened his eyes.

"Reno? Are you alright?" Elena asked

"Yeah…just a black-out, I'm fine." He struggled to his feet with Elena's help. "Just had a rough time."

"Where have you been Reno?" Elena asked seriously.

"I don't think now is really the time, do you?" he smiled. "Come on we'll talk about it later."

Elena, Reno, Rude, Tseng and Tifa were all sat around Elena's apartment, listening to Reno's story all that night. Elena had a strange feeling of elation inside her that she was struggling to hide.

"So what happened after that mission?" Tseng said

"You recognise one of them gang members?" he said, raising an eyebrow

Everyone shook their heads.

"Tifa? When was the last time you saw Cloud?" he asked

Her head dropped. "I haven't seen him in over two years." She said. "It ….wasn't…?"

He nodded. "The fucker drugged me. Again…yes I do know." He added, seeing the look on everyone's face. "I woke up not knowing where I was. They've spent all this time trying to get information from me, and Cloud trying to kill me." He pointed to his stomach. "I managed to get away though. A week ago. Fuck knows how I got back here." He finished and looked up at them, squinted slightly through his blackened eye.

"Reno? How long have you been back here?" Elena asked, seeing the photo on her coffee table. Reno picked it up.

"A few days." He said, smirking. "Yeah I left this here. Thought I'd give you a clue."

"Why didn't you show yourself earlier?"

"Too risky, 'Lena. Cloud and his little buddies are still out there. They're probably looking for me now. Well, Cloud at least."

"That's why we've decided to make you stay with Elena a little longer. Safety in numbers." Tseng said, and he got up to leave. "It's good to have you back Reno. Only come back to work when you're ready this time. We don't want this to happen again."

"Of course." Reno said, smiling, "If I was healthy at the time, I could have kicked Strife's ass. Fucking a.."

"Thank you Reno. Well, we'll see you both soon I suppose." He left, followed by everybody else. Finally, they were alone.

"Reno?" Elena said. He looked at her. There was still a strained look on his face, but after what he'd been through…

She looked back at him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love you."

"I know, everyone does."


End file.
